Husky Energy is conducting a $15-million clean-up of the Windfall site near Whitecourt.

The energy company is in the process of reclaiming and revegetating the former sulphur handling facility.

It has received approval from the provincial government to construct a class 2 landfill on site and is currently applying for county approval.

According to Husky, it will be consolidating affected soil from the 40-hectare site into an area of about two hectares. As part of the process, the area will be double-lined and capped, and the remainder of the site reclaimed.

The energy company informed Woodlands County Council it is completing the environmental clean-up of the property, and Woodlands County Mayor Jim Rennie said council is pleased to see the work being done.

“We're glad to see our friends are cleaning up and remediating the site,” he said. “It's good news, and it's nice to see Husky being a good, corporate citizen.”

The mayor added he is hopeful there will be a lot of employment opportunities for local residents coming from the project.

“A huge amount of the $15-million reclamation would be from labour, so I'm hoping that there is some local labour that is involved,” Rennie said.

The Windfall site was used to store and ship sulphur produced by a neighbouring third party-operated sour gas plant. No longer operating, the majority of the handling facility's infrastructure has been decommissioned.

Husky reported the landfill construction work will begin next summer and will take about six months to complete.